Cursed Mountain - WII - Preview

E3 2009 Preview

Dark and eerie. Those are the first
two words that’ll come to mind when you see Cursed Mountain. Developed for
Nintendo’s console from the ground up, this Wii exclusive takes aim at the
survival/horror genre. Unlike other recent horror games, the developers aren’t
using the genre as a synonym for third-person shooter. In its entirety, Cursed
Mountain is searching for that creepy, ultra-scary place where players will
question whether or not they should play with the lights turned off.

Thus far, the game is on the right track. Before
getting down to those things that go bump in the night, the developers penned a
story that revolves around a man and his missing brother, who disappeared while
climbing the Himalayas. Determined to find his brother, the man decides to
climb the mountain himself, hoping to discover any clues that could lead to his
rescue. Little does he know that, similar to the town of Silent Hill, the area
is plagued by a curse that traps the souls of anyone who perishes before
leaving. Of course, it’s how they perish that is most interesting: as the
tormented souls move through the land, they become violent, monstrous creatures.
They’re not as grotesque as the monsters of Condemned; instead, the developers
went for more a subtle, yet still very creepy design. In particular, one of your
enemies could be described as an oversized and heavily mutated human.

If you’re one of the millions of gamers who feel
that darkness is scarier than sunlight, you’ll be pleased to know that there
don’t appear to be many bright moments in Cursed Mountain. The hazy, gray-ish
black visuals are very cool and intense. There’s a measure of eeriness tied to
the way the fog – intentional fog – sways through the environment. It’s an
effect that is unavoidably reminiscent of Silent Hill, and not in a way that’ll
make you scream, “It’s a clone!” But in a way that might make you scream, “This
is genuinely scary!”

To enhance the freaked-out effect, the game uses
brief real-time sequences to introduce new scenarios. The camera is generally
stable but may purposely lunge toward an enemy, with bone-chilling music
blasting in the background, to surprise gamers as they enter the world for the
first time.

At this stage in development, the controls are
pretty solid. Players use the Wii remote and Nunchuk in the same way they’d use
a standard game controller: the thumbstick moves your character, the A button
triggers on-screen actions, etc. The motion features come into play when you are
attempting to free souls. You could just kill them, but if you choose to show
compassion, they’ll heal your wounds. Souls are freed by shaking the remote in a
particular way – the movement is shown on screen, so you’ll always know what to
do next.

Like other Wii action games, you attack by
holding down the C button, which pulls up your weapon (an ice pick) and aim with
the motion-sensitive remote. That ice pick has great significance to the story:
it belonged to the main character’s brother. When mixed with Buddhist ritual
knives, the pick becomes a magical weapon that can blast away evil and tormented
souls.

Cursed Mountain tops off the horrific journey
with an unpredictable soundtrack. There aren’t any emotional pieces (at least
not yet), but the music is thrilling and powerful, and should have what it takes
to keep you on the edge of your seat.

It’s impossible to judge the full-game
experienced based on one E3 demo, but if Cursed Mountain can retain its creepy,
cool atmosphere till the credits roll, this could be one of the best horror
games of the generation. If nothing else, here’s hoping the final game is scary
enough to make us keep the lights turned on.